By 1976, the masses were already in love with the British glam rock band Queen and were used to expecting the unexpected from them. Lyrically, musically, and performance-wise, Queen was a completely unique and intoxicating experience. Fans were already dazzled by hits like 1974’s “Killer Queen” and, of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 1975, so when Freddie Mercury penned the powerful gospel-inspired track “Somebody to Love,” people were once again blown away.
Though it only peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, according to Songfacts, the tune, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, was among his favorite songs he had ever written.
According to the outlet, Peter Hince, the head of Queen’s road crew, recalled to Mojo magazine, “among the road crew there were songs you liked and songs you didn’t like,” adding that “Somebody to Love” was “always one of Queen’s best. The studio version was very polished, but on-stage, there was so much more guts to it.”
Hince also reportedly noted, according to the outlet, in an interview with Greatest Hits Radio that Mercury favored “Somebody to Love” over “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is arguably one of Queen’s most signature commercial tracks. “He felt that as a pure piece of songwriting it was better,” Hince claimed.
Related: 1970 Rock Pioneer, Ex Queen Bassist Who Played with Freddie Mercury Dies at 76
Who Is “Somebody to Love” Really About?
While the lyrics, both inspiring and heartbreaking, tell the tale of a man crying out to a higher power to reward his good nature with a person to love, the song itself was inspired by the one and only Aretha Franklin. Mercury was a huge admirer of the singer; in fact, according to Smooth Radio, guitarist Brian May commented that Mercury wanted to be her.
“I think it had a different kind of technical approach because there was this sort of Gospel way of singing, which I think was different to us,” the outlet claims Mercury himself once said. “Sort of going to Aretha Franklin, sort of made them go a bit mad. I just wanted to write something in that kind of thing,” he continued. “I was sort of incensed by the Gospel approach that she had on her albums, the earlier albums. Although it might sound the same kind of approach on the harmonies, it is very different in the studio, because it’s like a different kind of… a different range.”
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Many actually believed that Queen’s provocative and somewhat controversial track “Fat Bottomed Girls” was about Franklin, but May actually wrote the song highlighting his and Mercury’s… preferences.
“I wrote it with Fred in mind, as you do especially if you’ve got a great singer who likes fat-bottomed girls… or boys,” May told Mojo magazine, according to Songfacts. “On the face of it, it’s a heterosexual song because it’s called ‘Fat Bottomed Girls,’ but I was totally aware of Freddie’s proclivities and the fact he was going to sing it. Plus, some of the inspiration for the song came from stuff that I saw in Freddie’s life as well as my own. So it’s actually not so much of a heterosexual song as you might think (laughs). It’s a sort of pansexual song. There are so many ways you can take it.”
Sadly, Mercury never met Franklin, but candidly noted how jealous he was that friend and fellow performer George Michael dueted with her.
“I’d love Aretha to sing Somebody To Love, actually… But as for me trying to sing with her? Well, she hasn’t approached me yet,” Mercury once said, according to The Daily Express. “I’m mad that George Michael did a duet with her!”her. I could have done it better!”
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